Unwritten police rule: "You can get away with anything" totally destroyed by cell phone cameras

[Stuart G]

Last edited Sun Apr 25, 2021, 12:59 PM - Edit history (1)

...I don't know, but I believe there was an unwritten rule which stated basically that as a cop, you could
get away with "anything and face no consequences"...(my opinion)...Now, everyone has a cell phone, and some cops are now required to carry them, ...that rule is gone forever.....

...I believe that there will be far less police brutality because of the Derrick Chauvin case. Cops will talk
to each others and will inform new cops that the situation has changed with these body cameras. In
reality, now the cops cannot get away with what 10 years ago, they believed they could get away with.

....The shooting of Walter Scott on April 4, 2015 ..was the beginning. Scott was running away from a cop that shot him. That cop, Michael Slager, got 20 years in prison. Chauvin is the end...

Walter Scott shooting:
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGNI_enUS494US495&q=Walter++Scott+shooting+in+2015#spf=1619368918909

[soothsayer]

1. At some point

[Dan]

2. 10 years ago, 5 years ago.....

I'm thinking its been in the last 5 years that everyone has started recording.

[Stuart G]

3. Yes, I have changed the original post to state that...You are correct, 100%

...It was the Walter Scott shooting on April 4, 2015, where the cop was caught shooting a man running away, and then walked up to him and checked to see if he was alive...That cop, Michael Slager, is sitting in jail with a 20 year sentence that he was suret he could ever get..

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

11. He also attempted to plant a weapon on him.

[Ocelot II]

4. Maybe. But don't forget, the beating of Rodney King was recorded too,

and nothing changed for 30 years. Maybe the fact that recording police misconduct is now possible because everybody has a little video camera in their pocket will finally make a difference. I sure hope so.

[multigraincracker]

5. I was around cops for a couple of years as I married a deputy.

From what I saw and heard, you could reduce police violence by at least 1/2 if every incident of force, drawing a weapon or physical force there would be a mandatory blood test on the officer. From steroids to opiates, they use them.

[dalton99a]

6. +1

[Stuart G]

7. Thank You for your input A way to reduce police violence: "blood test on the officer" directly

after the event..

[multigraincracker]

8. I worked for a large company for 30 years.

As a condition of employment, you could be drug tested after any injury accident.

[SWBTATTReg]

9. I like the idea of blood tests after every shooting and / or physical incident ...

Why not? If the officer in question didn't do anything wrong, then why would the officer(s) and/or those that they were dealing with fear such a thing? Invasion of privacy wouldn't apply since the shooting occurred during a work shift for the officers and in a public space for citizens.

Perhaps an automatic blood test too on citizen(s) too, just so that all evidence of both sides is gathered before it's destroyed/aged off, and physical evidence is available to fully refute any nonsense claims on the part of anybody. There are so many drugs out there, and alcohol, that anything could be true, e.g., if someone said that someone did something really crazy, then it probably really did happen...

Cameras are a very good thing too, but the quality still needs to be improved and cameras need to always be on. Same situation, cameras would protect all, police and others. The tech is getting better, but still, when one can put cameras in space from 20K+ miles in space and take pictures on the ground that are pretty legible, you get my point...

[Sneederbunk]

10. On the other hand, body cams have saved some cops. Video does not lie.

[tulipsandroses]

12. I wish I shared your optimism. I don't.

One off prosecutions amongst the many cases does not give me optimism that things are changing. Nope.
These murders and abuse will continue until there are laws on the books and a complete overhaul of the justice system.
Blatant racism and unconscious bias will continue in police departments which will in turn affect a cop's response.
Jonathan Capeheart and his guest posed the question that should be addressed in police training. Why is there such a fear of black people?

I don't think anything changes. Just like people thought we were in a "post racial era" after President Obama became president. Nope. We are not there.

[dutch777]

13. We need better educated, better trained, better paid and better supported police officers

Cel phone and body cams will help but in most communities, the bar is so low to become an officer and then we expect them to be a combination of police, social worker and marriage/drug/mental health counselor. In WA state all you need is a HS diploma, 8 weeks at the police academy, no felony convictions and someone to hire you with some OJT and you are an officer. Ongoing training is hit and miss and not reinforced enough to be muscle memory, other than to pull and fire a gun, to be useful. I am saddened by the almost daily tragedy of excess use of police force and only surprised that given the low bar, its not even worse. When the tool you know best is a gun, many bad outcomes are pre-ordained.

[Bettie]

14. +1

Better and more training.

Also, culture change in police departments is necessary.

[uponit7771]

15. Shit, still can !!! Just change the laws in a rule so too many things are justified